Chaddenwick Hill, nr  Mere, Wiltshire. Reported 13th July.

Ancient Celtic iron "spectacle" or Brillen type fibula
Huge Celtic fibula / toga pin, c.10th - 8th Century BC. 

Spirals, double spirals

In order to reveal the multi-dimensional symbolic meanings of the previous spirals, a brief survey is given below about the general symbolism of spiral curves.

The spiral forms play universal and complex roles among traditional and religious symbols. In figure A2/7, a simple (Archimedean) spiral and a double spiral are shown.

Figure A2/7. Simple and double spiral

These and many similar forms primarily represent the following subjects:

• In general:
  • way, route: lines of movement
  • power, force: motive power/force
  • spirit, breath, breathing
  • time: cycles and periods (eras, solar year, lunar month, day)
  • coiling outwards: creation, birth, growth, development – evolution
  • coiling inwards: withdrawal, contraction, completion, death – involution
• Double spirals: two simple spirals of opposite character (left- and right-handed, coiling in- and outwards), connected to each other at one or at both ends:
  • unity of opposite powers: action and reaction
  • transition, transformation, inversion
  • space and time: motion in space.
• Spatial (three-dimensional) spirals:
  • the axis of the world
  • connection between earth and heaven
  • the path to God
• Decorative elements: all over the world, similar to other traditional symbols, spirals often occur as ornamental motifs. They have been known since prehistoric times, and are also used on objects of different kinds in the present day.

In China, the spirals, particularly the double spirals, are among the most widely known and most important symbols. Their origin goes back to the mythical era: spiral motifs have been found on carved stones and earthenware from the 3rd millennium BC, and from even before that time. More discoveries of painted pottery came from excavations in the vicinity of An-yang, dating from the 14-12th century BC [Bulling: p. 161]. Double spirals of the S-form type also occur in ancient ideography, forming different ideographs [ibid.].

The most frequently used double spiral can be seen, however, in the well-known yin-yang (taiji) diagram, as the boundary line between its two halves (figure A2/8).

Figure A2/8. The yin-yang (taiji) diagram

It is worth noting what the views of several philosophers are on this matter.

• "The double spiral represents the completion of the sigmoid line, and the ability of the sigmoid line to express the intercommunication between two opposing principles is clearly shown in the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol." [Cirlot: pp. 306-307].
• "From a cosmic point of view, the double spiral may be regarded as the flattened projection of the two halves of the egg of the world, ... or of the Upper and Lower Waters." [ibid.].
• "This double spiral ... which can be regarded as the planar projection of the two hemispheres of the Androgyne, offers an image of the alternating rhythm of evolution and involution, of birth and death." A citation from Elie Lebasquais [in Guénon: p. 31].
• "The two spirals can be considered as the indication of a cosmic force acting in opposite direction in each of the two hemispheres, which, in their broader application, are of course the two halves of the 'World Egg', the points around which the two spirals coil being the two poles." [Guénon: p.31-32].

An important conclusion can be drawn from the above citations:

The yin-yang diagram is an analogous, two-dimensional form of the World Egg (the 'cosmic egg', or the primordial 'Androgyne').

This idea was directly expressed by Guénon, in the following words: "It [the yin-yang diagram] is also, according to another and more general traditional symbolism, the 'World Egg'; whose two halves, when they separate, become Heaven and Earth respectively." [Guénon: pp. 29-30].

According to the analysis of the Yi-globe (see: Ch. III), the yin-yang diagram may be its planar representation. Assuming this analysis and the above statement are correct, another conclusion can be formed:

The Yi-globe is also an alternate form of the World Egg. Its lower and upper hemispheres correspond to the two halves of the latter.

These latter statements clearly express the close relationship between the Yi-globe and the other universal symbols of macrocosm (yin-yang diagram, World Egg). The presence of the spiral forms in Chinese tradition and the meanings of these forms yield new arguments in support of the method of the reconstruction of the Yi-globe in the field of force between the two primal powers (see: Ch. II). Also, the occurrence of different spirals as new, complex symbols, such as the 'way of enlightenment' and the forthcoming 'Yi-spiral' and 'Yi-circle', are not strange or unusual events in Chinese culture.

It is necessary to mention snakes or serpents again here, as they are among the spiral forms, and are frequently shown in the different symbols, coiled around themselves, and thus forming a spiral. In figure A2/6.b a spherical spiral can be seen on the surface of the Yi-globe, ascending uniformly from the beginning to the end. If this spiral were replaced by a serpent, and the Yi-globe considered the World Egg, a well-known symbol could be reproduced: the serpent surrounding an egg, which is the symbol of the creation of the world in many traditions (see: e.g. here).

There is yet another interesting opinion in connection with the meanings set forth above. As J. E. Cirlot demonstrates, the spiral is also associated with the idea of dance, "and especially with primitive dances of healing and incantation, when the pattern of movement develops as a spiral curve. Such spiral movements may be regarded as figures intended to induce a state of ecstasy and to enable man to escape from the material world and to enter the beyond." (my italics) [Cirlot: p. 306].

Note: This idea may have some relation to the 'Pace of Yu', i.e., with the stories of the strange, hopping gait of Yu the Great, the legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st cent. BC). There is a reference to the Pace of Yu as a dance, for example, in the book of S. Little who quotes Yuan Miaozung (early 12th cent. AD) as follows: "The Pace of Yu is a Taoist ritual dance, named for the mythic emperor Yu ... The dance serve many functions, including exorcism and purification." A diagram illustrates this dance, the last phase of which goes around the North Star in the form of a contracting spiral: three turns go clockwise and then, after a turn of 180 degrees, a fourth one goes counterclockwise. [Little: p. 200]. 

The double spiral arrangement of the hexagrams – The Yi-spiral

The Yi-globe itself is a rather complicated form, but taking its complex symbolism into consideration, it is still the best solution possible to convey all the knowledge about the hexagrams and about their roles in cosmology. With the double spiral on its surface, however, the whole structure has become much more complicated; it can no longer be represented in the usual ways.

To make things simpler, one has to prepare the planar projection of this three-dimensional spiral and to set the two halves next to each other and, then, to place the hexagrams on them in their proper positions. This form will be called Yi-spiral, on the analogy of the Yi-globe (figure A2/9).

Figure A2/9. The Yi-spiral

This diagram contains all the 54 hexagrams that are on the way of enlightenment, on the surface of the Yi-globe. Aside from this, it has preserved all the symbolic meanings which were enumerated above, and were present in the three-dimensional variant.

This arrangement also has quite a few qualities that are characteristic features of the Yi-globe: the presence of the two poles and their opposite characters; the direction of development (starting from the two poles); the circular and cyclic arrangement of the hexagrams; and the indication of the movements (the changes) and time, etc. Some important features however, are missing: First of all, those properties that originate in the spatial form: the sphere itself, the axis and the center, the hexagrams inside the sphere, and some others as well. Nevertheless, considering the form and meaning, the Yi-spiral can be taken not only as the 'way of enlightenment', but as a new, expressive arrangement of the hexagrams, and as the symbol of the manifested universe. The two hexagrams of Completion (hexagram 63 and 64) and the eight doubled trigrams do not have worldly manifestation, and so, they are separately shown as 'pivot hexagrams' (see figure A2/5).

The spiral of the 'way of enlightenment' can also be associated with snakes. Looking at figure A2/5 from above, a form can be seen, which is similar to a snake coiling around itself in two opposite directions (figure A2/10).

Figure A2/10. Snake in the form of a double spiral

This picture represents the same as figure A2/5. In the center, the tail and the head are the two poles, the Receptive and the Creative, respectively. The black, outwards winding spiral is the evolutionary phase of development, and the red, inwardly winding half stands for involution. The transition from one phase to the other goes unbroken.

Besides of this symbol, two other variants can be easily formed, also relating to this subject.

• a.) If the snake were shown with his tail in the mouth, as if swallowing it, it would be an 'ouroboros', representing the 'eternal return', the eternal circulation. The meaning of this symbol is that after attaining complete enlightenment, one can be united with the Supreme Ultimate in the Center, and then, according to his will, be reborn to the Earth.
• b.) A snake with two heads, that is one at the tail end as well, is an 'amphisbaena'. In such a form the two heads correspond to the two poles and the two directions of the opposite forces, making it a rather cosmic symbol.

A special double helix – The Sun-line

A double helix is a spatial curve that consists of two (typically congruent) helices with the same axis, differing by a translation along the axis. In science, this is commonly known as the structure of nucleic acids such as DNA, and RNA [Wikipedia: helix]. In symbolism, however, the two helices coil in opposite directions around a (vertical) axis or, when they are shown in the form of snakes, around each other. Their symbolic meaning is usually the same as that of the planar double spirals: duality, complementary opposition, movement, power, etc.

An example of the double helices is the two 'nadis' ('ida' and 'pingala') or subtle currents, known in traditional Indian medicine and yoga; they coil around the 'sushumna' nadi, the central canal of the subtle body. Another such a configuration is the two serpents of the 'caduceus' (the 'wand of Hermes'). Fu Xi, who is well-known by all the readers of the I Ching, can be seen in ancient pictures in a similar form, coiled together with his wife (and/or sister) Nuwa (see: Wikipedia, Fu Xi).

The Sun-line on the surface of the Yi-globe was already analyzed in Chapter III (figure 26). As it can be seen, it is composed from two parts. Each part is a single turn of a special helix; a left-handed one on the front (East) side of the globe, and a right-handed on the back (West) side. They are mirror copies of each other, and interconnected at the end points of the axis, forming a loop around it (figure A2/11).

Figure A2/11. The Sun-line on the Yi-globe. Perspective and top view

These helices are very special indeed. None of them have a central axis - they are curved around a hemisphere - nevertheless, their top view is a circle (see the figure above).

Note: Applying spherical coordinates, the equations of the two spirals are very simple:
r = R, and Θ = φ on the front side, where [0 ≤ φ ≤ Π], and
r = R, and Θ = 2Π - φ on the back side, where [Π ≤ φ ≤ 2Π].
Here the basic plane of the coordinate system is the equatorial plane, the azimuth reference line goes to the South, and R is the radius of the globe; r, Θ (inclination), and φ are the spherical coordinates.

It has already been demonstrated that the Sun-line represents the cyclic character of time and the visible annual motion of the Sun on the sky. On the basis of the present references to the double helices, it is easy to see that the Sun-line also represents the field of force between the two opposite powers, the Heaven and the Earth, where the elements of the universe have been manifested. Moreover, they also apparently show two paths: one from earth to heaven, and another in the opposite direction. In this way, this loop indicates a route of circulation that is, considering the symbolism of these paths, an ouroboros; this is another route of the eternal return (figure A2/12).

Figure A2/12. The circle of the eternal return – The Yi-ouroboros (view from South)

Summarizing the contents of the present addendum, the first sentence of the statement (9) from the end of chapter III (The Analysis) is repeated here:

The Yi-globe embraces all the cardinal metaphysical symbols of the peoples of the world, thereby also revealing that the hexagrams and the I Ching — apart from being unique Chinese creations — form an integral part of our universal tradition.

This statement has already been confirmed in this chapter. In addition, some other universal symbols – spirals of different kinds – though previously hidden within the structure of the Yi-globe have been henceforth revealed. Their symbolism may be considered a new contribution to the material of knowledge regarding the I Ching. The Yi-spiral, this new arrangement of the hexagrams, might well serve as a subject of contemplation. 

References:

• BULLING, A: The Meaning of China's Most Ancient Art. E.J. Brill Pub.1952.
• CIRLOT, J. E., et al.: A Dictionary of Symbols. Philosophical Library. 1990.
• CLEARY, Thomas: The Taoist I Ching – Introduction. Shambhala, 1986.
• GUENON, Rene: The Great Triad. Sophia Perennis, 2002.
• LITTLE, Stephen; EICHMANN, Shawn: Taoism and the Arts of China. University of California Press, 2000.

Graham Russell